Out of Luck
by Shadow of Arashi
Summary: ‘Things have changed and not for the better.’ Because sometimes your world collapses, no matter how you may wish otherwise. Lavi centric, angst and slight au-ish take on the events after chapter 171.


**Title**: Out of Luck  
**Author**: Shadow Arashi  
**Fandom**: -Man  
**Pairing**: None, Lavi-centric  
**Rating**: PG  
**Word Count**: 1021  
**Summary**: 'Things have changed and not for the better.' Because sometimes your world collapses, no matter how you may wish otherwise.  
**Warnings**: Angst, au-ish. My take on how things could be taking place in the Black Order after chapter 171. I'm going with the idea that things are going down the drain since the Vatican got involved. Also this was my personal excuse to see Lavi as the Order's mascot.  
**Disclaimer**: I own nothing but the plot bunny that gave birth to this fanfic. If I did own DGM Lavi would spend his life chained to Tyki's bed.  
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Things have changed- and not for the better.

Lavi had first noticed it in Komui's office when he was given his next mission a week ago. The atmosphere had been gloomy, dark and heavy. There had been no jokes, no smiles and none of the laughter that was so familiar in the Science Department.

The warm aura that had always surrounded the Order for as long as Lavi had lived there, that little something that had made the otherwise gothic place a _home,_ seemed to have died when the knowledge of Allen's involvement with the 14th was discovered.

They still hadn't found out who leaked the information out but ever since that day the moral of exorcists, finders and scientists alike had taken a heavy blow.

Lenalee, who used to hang around the Science Department and help by serving coffee to the overworked staff whenever she could, was now spending her time locked in her room when she wasn't on a mission. Sobbing could sometimes be heard from her room, though she kept smiling an empty smile when asked about it.

Kanda was even more irritable than usual, though it didn't show much and he refused to speak of the matter entirely. He was little more than a ghost haunting the corridors when he wasn't training; outwardly remaining the same as always.

Krory and Miranda were lost as to what to do and what to believe. They had finally found some sort of comfort in each others' presence though it was obvious they were trying to deny that anything was wrong. The Order had become their whole life and anything was better than acknowledging that their home was falling to pieces.

Komui was shattered. The man loved all the people under his command more than was healthy and had always had a soft spot for Allen. Now he was drowning himself in his work and the rest of the Science Department was no better. It wasn't unusual nowadays to see Reever, Johnny or Komui looking like death, overworked over and ready to collapse, dark circles under reddened eyes from lack of sleep. Or maybe they had been crying at one point or another too.

Everyone just seemed to fall apart without Allen.

And Lavi? Lavi could only think of the whole situation as pitiful.

And it was really. Allen wasn't dead and he hadn't turned traitor yet. Still it didn't seem to matter as even people who were his closest friends (_whydidyouturnawayLenalee_) were treating him as if he was gone already. It's not an aspect of the Order he is familiar with.

When Lavi mentions it to Bookman, the old man says nothing for a while and asks him what _his_ opinion is. Lavi tilts his head to the side, taps his finger on his lips as if in deep thoughts and merely replies he has no opinion to give. It isn't his place to do so. Bookman nods in approval, his expression never changing. Then he asks what '_Lavi_' would do.

The next day Lavi goes down to the Science Department with a plate full of cookies and other sweet things and a large pot of coffee. He spends his day here, claiming he has nothing else to do. He talks to everyone, fills the mugs of Reever and Komui when they are empty and gives a hand to find such and such paper. He does it again the following day.

A week later and Lavi has successfully taken over Lenalee's old job as the Order unofficial mascot.

Where it used to be the gentle Chinese girl who brought coffee and a smile to everyone around her, it is now Lavi's self appointed job.

He doesn't have Lenalee's feminine charm and does not pretend to act the same as she did but his smile is friendly and his kind words are little fragments of sunshine. He brings coffee and food to Reever and the others but doesn't stick around afterward every time. Sometimes he switches the coffee for tea just to see the Science Department complain about it and forget for a moment the rest of their problems.

The redhead is bright and lovely and warm and everyone needs that right now. It's like he is holding the soul of the Order together.

Two weeks, a few pranks, a day spent helping Jerry in the kitchen for a huge surprise barbecue party and a impromptu game of chess with Krory and Miranda later and Lavi has almost manages to drive the 'Allen situation' into the background. Smiles are slowly becoming the norm again and Reever let it be known that Komui has nearly threatened to build another Komurin the other day.

And in the middle of it all Lavi watches and learns.

Finders and Exorcists alike seek him out when the pressure becomes too much and he finds himself listening to more confessions in a week than he has in months.

Bookman watches and approves of his apprentice's method.

It was a cunning move, making the people around you forget their problem and secure their affection for you at the same time. It also provides Lavi with a measure of protection, no matter how small. Neither Bookman nor his apprentice have forgotten the potential danger they were in for having been witnesses to _that scene_.

Still the old man believes going after the Order's newest beloved was not a risk the Vatican was ready to take. At least not right now.

Lavi just pushes it to the back of his mind (but never _forgets_) and works himself silly, collapsing onto his bed at the end of the day feeling numb.

Things have changed and in those rare moments where he is honest with himself, he knows he misses the old days.

Things have changed and so has he, for when Bookman tells him to be prepared to leave soon Lavi feels a slight pinch in his chest but doesn't protest. His time, just like his luck, has run out.

Lavi then wonders when did the Black Order stopped being a home and went back to be nothing but ink.


End file.
